EDUCATION: School lunches missing the mark for nutrition standards

Therein lies one of the biggest debates about school lunch: Do you serve children what you think they want (fast food), or try something fresh and wholesome, knowing they might reject it?

The answer, for most schools, is the kid-friendly stuff. Meat pizza is the most commonly offered lunch entree in U.S. high schools and middle schools, according to the 2007 USDA report.

The report reviewed a week's worth of menus from a nationally representative sample of 397 schools. About one-third of the menus included dessert, usually a cookie, cake or brownie that sometimes counted toward a grain requirement. About 43 percent of entrees were commercially prepared, with french fries, chicken nuggets and pizzas being the most commonly served processed items.

Some schools served twice the maximum recommended sodium amount, the report noted, in part because of "the frequent use of commercially prepared items."

Food industry officials say schools have made major improvements in recent years.

"School meals are very healthy," said Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria workers and food processors. "Schools are using farm-to-school programs, using more locally grown foods, introducing more salad bars and switching to healthier products."

But many scholars believe the food that students actually eat is worse than the federally subsidized lunch. Research has shown lunches brought from home typically have fewer nutrients and contain snacks high in sugar or fat.

Most schools also offer what are called "competitive foods," including a la carte lines and vending machines. Cafeterias often use these sales to help them break even. A 2012 federal report found the most popular a la carte items sold are chips, followed by cookies, pizza and milk.

Too much fat, sodium

Nearly one-third of California school districts reviewed by the state failed to limit saturated fat to 10 percent of lunch calories, as required. The data included districts reviewed by the state between October 2006 and October 2011. The state studied one week's worth of lunches at each district, calculating averages for fat, calories and several nutrients, based on all the lunch components.

The district that served the highest level of saturated fat was the Leggett Valley Unified School District, north of Mendocino. Nearly 17 percent of calories were from saturated fat when the district was reviewed five years ago.

The lunches analyzed included: an enchilada casserole, a barbecue sandwich, stir-fried vegetables with eggs and a daily salad bar that had 32 grams of fat per serving.

Clifford Skaggs, the district's food service director, noted that reviewers praised the wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. He said he has since implemented "drastic changes," switching from beef to turkey in some entrees, adding more vegetables and cutting cheese portions.

Another problem area for schools is sodium. More than 4 out of 5 districts reviewed by the state exceeded the federal recommendation.

Schools need to start cooking fresh meals with less salt, said Matthew Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates, which has led several initiatives to improve school meals.